By packaging their two top rentals, Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, in one deal, the A’s got a much better return from the Dodgers than they could have hoped for had Oakland dealt them separately. Two months’ worth of two players became three potential stars.
In Jharel Cotton, Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas, Oakland has added impact talent. Whether it pans out remains to be seen, of course, but it’s possible that with one move, the A’s have put down a major piece of foundation for a good run of contending again.
Montas, who previously has been part of trades involving Jake Peavy and Todd Frazier, has been limited this year by injuries, pitching in only seven games – three in Double-A, four in Triple-A, where he has 15 strikeouts in 11.1 innings for a combined total of 22 punchouts in 16 frames. In his first taste of the majors last year with the White Sox, Montas had 20 strikeouts in 15 innings. His ceiling might be the highest of the trio, but also comes with a risk factor for how his body will hold up and the fact that three teams now have seen fit to trade him.
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The 24-year-old Cotton, a right-hander who was picked in the 20th round of the 2012 draft, should be close to the majors. His 4.90 ERA in Triple-A this year is fueled in large part by having given up 17 home runs, but he also has 119 strikeouts in 97.1 innings, eye-popping for a starting pitcher at any level. It’s not a fluke, either – throughout his minor league career, Cotton has averaged 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
Holmes, the youngest player added by the A’s, at 20, was a first-round pick in 2014 and is another high-strikeout minor leaguer, with 100 in 105.1 innings for high-A Rancho Cucamonga this year. With 43 walks and a 4.02 ERA, there are kinks to work out, but certainly there is time before he reaches the big leagues to work it out.
It’s possible that none of the three pitchers works out at all for the A’s, but faced with the prospect of losing Hill and Reddick for only draft picks at the end of the season, or getting lesser returns in separate deals, Oakland made the right move to get three pitchers who have consistently blown away minor league hitters. Strikeout rate, while not the be-all, end-all, is a good indicator of ability, and there isn’t a team in the majors that wouldn’t want Cotton, Holmes and Montas in their system.
The impact for the Dodgers in adding Hill and Reddick is clear enough. A rotation beset by injuries gets a top-flight arm, albeit also dealing with injury as Hill is on the disabled list with blister issues. A lineup in need of another outfielder got a solid defender working on an .816 OPS campaign, while adding flexibility to make more moves and really shake up the race.